Ostler: A night of pride for A’s manager and his daughter – Houston Chronicle
The Oakland A’s celebrated Gay Pride on Friday with a new twist, naming the night in honor of former outfielder Glenn Burke.
And earlier in the day, manager Bob Melvin’s daughter, Alexi, added another layer to the festivities with a tweet:
“Happy #PRIDE Night to the @Athletics. The manager has had an LGBTQ+ daughter pretty much since she was born. (It me.) And I have always felt very supported and empowered to live my truth. I have been lucky. So much love to the rest of my community.”
Alexi texted the tweet to her dad, because Stone Age BoMel is not on Twitter. He heartily approved.
“It’s cool and I’m proud of her,” Bob Melvin said in a phone interview Friday afternoon.
Alexi wanted to be at the game, but she lives in Arizona and had other commitments, so she sent her love via Twitter.
“I just wanted to share my support and bring any kind of awareness to the organization,” she said.
Alexi Melvin, now 32, was born in 1988 in Redwood City, when her dad was between his fourth and fifth big-league seasons, a backup catcher for the Giants. She is the only child of Bob and wife Kelley.
In many ways, Alexi took the road less traveled. She skipped eighth grade and entered high school at age 13. At 14, she was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. At the same time, she was coming to terms with her sexuality.
“When it occurred to me that that’s who I was, around 13 or 14, I didn’t really make it a big deal, I just kind of started living my truth,” Alexi said. “My mom, right off the bat, was really, really supportive and always told me that it didn’t really matter what label I wanted to say I was.
“My dad started to pick up on things, and he never expressed any concern, he just wanted me to be happy, and he always told me that, whether it be with regard to my sexuality, or what I was pursuing with school or career.”
Alexi added with a laugh, “I think he was actually glad that it meant I wouldn’t be going after any of the players on his team.”
Since Alexi was, as far as she knew, the only person in her high school who was out, her parents were her support group.
“It’s definitely a sense of otherness,” Alexi said, and her parents “always made me feel like I was unique in a really special way . . . I never felt like they weren’t there for me. There just always were.”
Bob said, “She became a lot happier once she was able to come out and be the person she wants to be. With most people like that, they have to break down some doors, not only as far as the public goes, but for themselves, too, to feel comfortable, and that’s a very hard thing to do.”
After high school, Alexi went to New York to study acting, and brought her parents with her. They wound up staying in New York for six years, as their daughter earned a BA degree from the New School, and attended the Lee Strasberg Theater and Film Institute, then went to work.
Alexi’s acting credits include two Star Wars movies and some commercial work. Recently she changed her career course and enrolled at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. In the fall, Alexi will be majoring in Women, Gender, Spirituality and Social Justice, with the goal of an MA and a Ph.D.
“Bringing more equality and awareness with regards to gender, sexuality, spiritual expression, all of that is really important to me,” she said. “I would like to write books, and speak. I’m really passionate about talking about transcending gender norms.”
Alexi was heartened by the positive response to her tweet about the A’s Pride Night.
“I love seeing the support and acceptance, that’s what we’re working towards,” she said. “A’s fans, I have to say, are great. I’ve dealt with some kind-of-not-nice people, growing up around baseball and having my dad be who he is. But A’s fans have always been just kind and supportive, just really good, kindhearted people, and today was a great example of that.”
Alexi’s interest in sports was limited to one season of Little League baseball. Oh, and she ran the New York City Marathon in 2019 and will run it again this year, in support of her activism in the diabetes community.
Friday night, though, she was a big A’s fan. Her dad had his team in first place in the AL West, and the A’s were saluting gay pride.
“Big day,” Bob Melvin said with a smile.
Scott Ostler is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: sostler@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @scottostler